Cult Education and Recovery
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Information, recovery support, and advocacy from lived experience
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The defamation victory, appeal dismissal, court extracts, and media coverage.
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Language for understanding coercive control and recovery after leaving.
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Introduction
I was recruited into the New Age doomsday cult, Universal Knowledge (formerly known as Life Integration Programmes), led by cult leader Natasha Lakaev and remained under her control from the age of 21 to 35. I escaped with my three children in January, 2010.
I say ‘escape’, because at the very moment I consciously made the decision to leave, I was threatened by Lakaev that if I left, she would report me to the Department of Child Safety (DoCS) as an abusive mother, sign off as a Psychologist, and have my three children taken from me.
Over time, I was indoctrinated to believe that Lakaev was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ, the Queen of Atlantis, and “one of 12 on the Intergalactic Council of the Universe”. She prophesied that the world would end in an Armageddon scenario around 11:11:11 (later 12:12:12) and said there would be few survivors apart from herself and her group and that we and our children would only survive if we remained with her.
This may seem odd and bizarre and you may think that I must have been crazy to believe in such nonsense. However, I consider myself to be a normal, everyday person who is intelligent, and yet I found myself in this situation.
From a young age, every week at Mass in the Catholic Church I was told: “Jesus will come again”.
After initial ‘love bombing’ and mind control techniques had been utilised, when this charismatic, manipulative, and persuasive personality presented herself as a reincarnation or ‘shaft’ of Jesus Christ and preached that the world as we know it would end, these concepts did not seem so far-fetched in my mind.
Lakaev became a registered psychologist in November 2008 with the Psychologists Board of Queensland and in 2010, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). She also became a member of the Psychology Council of New South Wales and Australian Psychological Society (APS).
For more than 15 years, despite scores of complaints submitted to all of the above government and industry bodies, by myself and others, it has only recently come to my attention that Lakaev is no longer registered as a psychologist with AHPRA (January 2026).
Recruitment
People do not ‘join’ cults. Individuals or families in vulnerable stages of their lives are recruited via coercive and deceptive methods to become involved with a seemingly legitimate group or movement.
Types of Cults
Cultic extremist ideology can manifest via any of the following and more:
- •a 1:1 relationship (e.g. family member, partner, friend, co-worker, boss)
- •extremist off-shoots of institutional religion
- •new religious movements
- •New Age spiritual groups
- •Eastern meditation groups
- •self improvement/personal development companies
- •Multi Level Marketing companies (MLMs)
- •pyramid schemes
- •step programs
- •online influencers
- •'fake' news or conspiracy theories
- •social groups, clubs, eg. yoga, gym, dance
- •political movements
- •doomsday cults
- •terrorist groups
Factors Which May Contribute to Vulnerability
- •while searching for meaning, purpose, and belonging
- •when recovering from childhood or adult trauma
- •after the loss of a loved one
- •when coping with a chronic or terminal disease
- •after leaving the parental home for the first time
- •while at university where students are idealistic, trying to make new friends and willing to try new things
- •while unemployed, looking for a job
- •after a divorce or relationship breakup
Personality of Cult Leaders
Cult leaders generally display the traits of a charismatic Narcissist, with an Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic or Paranoid Personality Disorder. Therefore, it is very easy for unsuspecting bystanders to be susceptible to their coercive persuasion/undue influence.
Retention of Members
Cults use Mind Control or Thought Reform techniques to retain their followers including:
- •initial 'love bombing'
- •long hours of indoctrination/repetition
- •hypnosis - excessive meditation, chanting or singing
- •loaded language
- •group think
- •peer pressure
- •polarisation: 'us vs them'
- •communication control
- •sleep deprivation
- •food deprivation
- •excessive exercise
- •physical exhaustion through overwork
- •isolation
- •monitoring movements
- •controlling access to money and resources
- •controlling relationships
- •controlling how you dress, wear your hair
- •phobia induction
- •shaming, humiliation and shunning
- •psychological manipulation
- •verbal abuse
- •threat of harm/instilling fear/punishments
- •physical and/or sexual violence
- •proselytising an 'end of the world' ideology
Members are separated from their family and friends and social support network. Before they realise what is happening, the group's indoctrination is ingrained in their psyche through sophisticated thought reform and they are no longer able to think critically.
Cult members are then trapped in a ‘prison’ with or without walls, until they ‘wake up’; are expelled/ex-communicated; are de-programmed or de-radicalised via intervention; or get to a point where their current circumstances are so bad that losing their salvation or the prospect of death is a better alternative.
I wish to help educate family and friends of current and former cult members, so that they are able to understand the process of mind control and better support their loved ones through recovery.
I hope that by sharing my story, personal insights and triumphs, I also support fellow ex-cult members along their recovery journey, as well as prevent others from becoming involved in these dangerous groups.
Defamation Victory
Justice Stephen Estcourt AM rules Natasha Lakaev an “Arrant Liar”, “Cult Leader”, “Criminal”, “Violent Extremist”, and “Likely to Suffer from Narcissistic and Borderline Personality Disorders” in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, Hobart: Lakaev v McConkey [2024] TASSC 8 on 1 March 2024.
After self-publishing a memoir of my experience in July 2017: The Cult Effect, I was sued by the cult leader for Defamation in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, Hobart, on 1 November 2018. I represented myself and successfully won the court case on 1 March 2024, after a trial which spanned almost three months. The cult leader appealed, however after intensive oral and written submissions, the appeal was dismissed on 12 July 2024 ‘for want of prosecution’.
Definitions of a Cult
Religious Cult
The Oxford Dictionary definition:
"A system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object."
Non-Religious Cult
The Oxford Dictionary definition (extended use):
"A collective obsession with or intense admiration for a particular person, thing, or idea."
Indoctrination
The Oxford Dictionary definition:
"The process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically."
Radicalisation
Australian Government:
"When a person's beliefs move from being relatively conventional to being radical, and they want a drastic change in society, this is known as radicalisation. This is not necessarily a bad thing and does not mean these people will become violent."
Violent Extremism
Australian Government:
"If a person or group decides that fear, terror and violence are justified to achieve ideological, political or social change, and then acts on these beliefs, this is violent extremism."
Destructive Cult
Definition by Michael D. Langone Ph.D., former Executive Director of ICSA:
“A group or movement that, to a significant degree:
- Exhibits great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing;
- Uses a thought reform program to persuade, control, and socialize members;
- Systematically induces states of psychological dependency in members;
- Exploits members to advance the leadership's goals, and causes psychological harm to members, their families, and the community.”
The Cult Effect
A gripping account of the brutal impact of spiritual and violent extremism.
Carli McConkey was 21 years old when she happened upon New Age guru, Natasha Lakaev, and her personal development company, Life Integration Programmes, at the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney, Australia in 1996.
What at first appeared professional and promising, became a vehicle for psychological and physical abuse.
Over the next thirteen years, Carli lost her freedom... her mind... and her family.
This book demonstrates the gradual and insidious process of mind control, gives insights into the period of recovery after escape, and shows how determination and strength can overcome adversity.
Read book reviews →“An absorbing and informative account of an abusive Australian cult that needs to be read... I admit I found it hard to put this book down.”
— Henry Boffin, Goodreads
Cults in Australia and Where to Find Support
Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS) estimates there could be around 1000 cults in Australia.
CIFS has supported individuals and families for more than 20 years from over 200 cults — these are only the groups that have been reported.
Cults are prolific. In today's world of increased isolation, a lack of a sense of meaning and belonging, and due to the widespread reach and influence of the internet, it is not unusual to have a family member or friend who has been involved in a cult or to know someone who does.
For contact details of CIFS and other support organisations in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Canada, and France, please see the Support page on this website.
Podcasts
Head Game - Ant Middleton
Carli shares her story of losing her identity, freedom and family, and how she fought against mind control techniques in order to escape.
Listen to Head Game - Ant Middleton (34 mins) →
Life Matters, ABC Radio National
'Carli spent 13 years in a cult - she shares the warning signs'...
Listen to Life Matters, ABC Radio National (13 mins) →
Radio New Zealand
'Surviving a cult and how to avoid being recruited into one'...
Listen to Radio New Zealand (25 mins) →
Let's Talk About Sects - Sarah Steel
Award winning podcast. Episode 5: Universal Knowledge.
Listen to Let's Talk About Sects - Sarah Steel (57 mins) →
AfterCult Podcast - Dave Mullins
Carli shares a personal account of the abuse she suffered and her long public legal battle to hold Lakaev to account.
Listen to AfterCult Podcast - Dave Mullins (1 hr 12 mins) →The Eight Characteristics of Cults
By Robert J. Lifton
Milieu Control
The purposeful limitation of all forms of communication with the outside world. A closed system with rigid boundaries. Communication with the inner self is also controlled, i.e. what is acceptable to think and feel. Control over diet, sleep cycles.
Mystical Manipulation
Teaching that the group has been specially chosen to carry out a divine purpose and the recruit has been selected to play a special role in fulfilling that purpose. Uncritical faith and trust is expected.
The Sacred Science
The mission of the group is considered sacred... not to be questioned. The group purports to have a body of airtight evidence to support its claims.
The Demand for Purity
Since the Word, Idea, Mission of the group is sacred and pure, anything contaminating it must be eradicated. Anything done in the name of purity is considered moral and just, no matter how deceptive.
Confession
An expectation of baring one's innermost thoughts and feelings in order to purge oneself of doubts and impurities. Since the leader and Mission are perfect, anything that goes wrong is the fault of the member.
Loading the Language
Thought-stopping cliches and jargon that compress the most complex of human problems into brief, highly reductive, definitive sounding phrases, which are easily memorised and easily expressed.
Doctrine over Person
Convincing the subject that the group and its doctrine take precedence over any individual in the group or any other teaching from outside it. Individual boundaries are obliterated.
Dispensing of Existence
Teaching that all those who disagree with the philosophy of the group are doomed. Use of splitting, we/they, taken to extremes.
Modified from Andres, R & Lane, J. (1989) Cults and Consequences. Los Angeles: Commission on Cults and Missionaries.
How Do Cults Recruit?
A TED-Ed Video by Janja Lalich Ph.D., Researcher, Author, and Educator specializing in cults and extremist groups. Professor Emerita of Sociology at California State University, Chico.